Older women exhibit greater airway 8-isoprostane responses to strenuous exercise compared to older men and younger controls

INTRODUCTION: Development of late-onset respiratory diseases is associated with elevated 8-isoprostane, a marker of oxidative stress, in the airways. However, sex differences exist in development of these diseases. Using an exhaustive exercise bout as a physiological stressor may elucidate whether there is a sex difference with aging in pre- to post-exercise airway 8-isoprostane generation. PURPOSE: To determine whether older women exhibit a greater airway 8-isoprostane response to exhaustive exercise compared to older men and younger controls. METHODS: Thirty-six individuals completed the study (12 post-menopausal older women (OW) and 12 age-matched older men (OM) 65±4 years of age, and 12 younger controls (YC) 21±2 years of age). Baseline measurements included exhaled breath condensate (EBC) for assessment of airway 8-isoprostane and standard pulmonary function testing (PFTs) to assess forced expiratory volume in 1-second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of FVC (FEF25-75%). Subjects then performed a VO2peak test to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer. Immediately post-exercise, PFTs and EBC were performed. RESULTS: The generation of airway 8-isoprostane from pre- to post-exercise was greater in OW compared to OM and YC (pThe accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author